Segregation in the nation’s public school districts has taken center stage recently as the Omaha school district has decided to split into smaller school districts along racial lines. Citing segregated communities as the reason behind the decision, Omaha hopes the move will help schools better address the needs of students as they try to comply with the No Child Left Behind Act. Other states are pointing to similar school district make-up and considering similar situations. Does NCLB encourage segregation?

Betty Sternberg, Connecticut education commissioner believes so. “We’ve had a reluctance on the part of school districts to accept youngsters who come in with deficiencies because they’re concerned that if they get enough of them … they’ll become labeled as failing schools,” she says.

It’s a problem that many experts believe is confounding an effort to eliminate the racial achievement gap on standardized annual tests. That’s because the law requires schools to demonstrate that students in specific racial, social and economic groups are making annual progress. A school fails if even one group fails. The more groups in a school, the greater chance for failure.

So the odds favor predominantly white schools in places like Fairfield County, a wealthy bedroom community that’s 75 percent white and has a median family income of more than $77,000. The odds do not favor predominantly minority schools in places like Hartford, which is 73 percent minority and has a median family income of $27,000.

What do you think? Weigh in with your views on NCLB promoting school segregation. Read more about the issue in these two CNN.com stories:
Law raises fears of more school segregation
Omaha school district to split along racial lines